Resumo

Leadership is an issue discussed in many fields such as, business, health, and so on. We have many studies in these areas, but not many regarding to leadership in the education system. Today it can be observed that the universities engaged in entrepreneurial activities often review and reform their organization in order to respond to external demands effectively as well as internal demand. Ekman, Lindgren and Packendorff (2017) agree that people should come first and they point out that universities need to be concerned about leadership development and this should be done with the faculty.

We can consider the education management as a field of study for business researchers because the results and changes needed depends on the management and leadership actions and it begins with leader motivation. This way if professors develop leadership skills they will leverage the educational organization as well as student achievement (Crawford, 2016; Epitropaki, Kark, Mainemelis & Lord, 2017). The purpose of the present study is therefore to present the importance of professor leadership and raise some ideas for improving leadership in these professionals.

Generally, one can understand leadership as the process of providing a direction and influence individuals or groups for the common goals the group are achieved (Hitt; Miller; Colella, 2007). According to Harrison and Killion (2007) professor leaders assume a wide range of roles to support school and student success, and these roles can be assigned formally or informally. To develop the professor’s leadership it is necessary to know their roles. Harrison and Killion (2007) points: Resource provider ; Instructional specialist; Curriculum specialist ; Classroom supporter ; Learning facilitator;

This study engaged a two-stage approach to data collection, an introductory phase beginning with the initial explanation of the objective of the research when the participants were able to check the questionnaire and clarify their doubts and the answers to the items described in the survey. First the data collection was performed in the United States in November of 2016. The participants were 14 students and 4 associated professors from a Mastering Course focused in Management with an educational approach located in San Antonio, Texas. In 2017 five more questionnaires were applied in Brazil.

The results show that the main roles for professor as leader are: learning facilitator, resource provider, instructional specialist and classroom supporter. These roles go beyond those pointed out by Harrison and Killion (2007) and show the real need to develop leadership in the teaching staff, since there are several roles developed by them. That is why these roles are necessary to considered in a program for professor leadership. Considering these results, in the paper is presented the guidelines for faculty leadership development. This guideline will consider theory based on Bennis(1988).

Finally, we have to take in consideration that providing the opportunity for professors to develop their leadership skills will allow them to have the chance of growth. They will be able to bring many ideas good ideas and opinions, for example, about creative practices applied in their classes that can be spread out among professors. In summary, the whole learning process will benefit. As limiting the research we must consider that the research is qualitative and as already discussed, the results should not be generalized.

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